I am generally sympathetic to panhandlers, and have a history of being generous to them. So I was surprised myself how annoyed I got with the one who tried the "Excuse me, sir, I'd like to talk to you" approach on me yesterday. (Annoyed, but not belligerent; I replied, as politely as I could, "I'm just taking a walk.") I think it's the dishonesty. No, you don't want to talk to me; you want to ask me for money. I think I would advise them just to cut to the chase. Nine out of ten people would turn them down, but I seriously doubt that "I'd like to talk to you" is getting them a better result. Also, if a person has earbuds in, there is very, very little probability that he wants to talk to anybody. Nothing personal.
Of course, they might wonder why I would expect common sense or polite behavior from someone who has had it beaten out of them by life. As have I. As have I.
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